The San Antonio Spurs were happy to have Tony Parker back, especially in overtime when the All-Star point guard returned to his role as the team's closer.

Parker had 22 points in his return from an eight-game absence, Tim Duncan added 19 points and 16 rebounds and the San Antonio Spurs escaped with a 104-97 overtime victory against the Utah Jazz on Friday night.

Amid cries of "MVP," Parker capped the scoring with a pair of free throws with 17.2 seconds left in overtime. He went 8 for 13 from the field and had five assists after missing eight games with a sprained left ankle. The Spurs were 6-2 in his absence, but struggled offensively.

"Tony was a little bit shy in the first half; he was just trying to feel his way a little bit," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "The game got tight at the end in regulation and then in overtime, and he was Tony Parker. Like I said, up until the time he got hurt, there wasn't a point guard in the league playing better than Tony Parker."

Parker had six points and two assists in overtime, including a cross-court pass to Kawhi Leonard for a 3-pointer to open overtime.

Leonard finished with 21 points, including five in overtime, and Danny Green had 15 points for San Antonio (53-16), which remains 2 games ahead of Oklahoma City in the West.

Mo Williams scored 23 points, Al Jefferson had 18 and Alec Burks 14 for Utah (34-35), which has lost three straight and dropped two games behind the Los Angeles Lakers for the West's final playoff berth.

"I can live with this," Jefferson said. "It is the end of the season and we cannot afford to lose one game. We played a tough team on their home floor and had a chance to win for the first time in a long time. The energy and the effort was there for all 48 minutes plus. If we continue to play the way we did tonight for the rest of these 12 games, we have a great chance."

Utah almost ruined what became a historic night for Duncan and Popovich.

Duncan's 29th double-double of the season gives him 13,113 career rebounds, moving him past Shaquille O'Neal (13,099) for 13th on the all-time list.

Popovich recorded his 900th career victory, becoming the 12th coach in NBA history to accomplish the feat and joining former Utah coach Jerry Sloan as the only coaches to do so with one team.

"It was big win for a lot of reasons. For Pop, No. 900; for Timmy passing Shaq; and me, I'm just happy to be back and hopefully we can keep it going now."

While Parker's return helped settle San Antonio late on offense, it was the team's defense that sealed the win.

The Spurs held the Jazz to 2-for-8 shooting in overtime after Marvin Williams' 3 at the buzzer tied the game at 90, drawing a heated tirade from Popovich for the defensive lapse. In the end, however, Popovich was happy with the outcome.